Dr. Richard Plemper, a professor in the new Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a five-year, $2.83 million federal grant to develop novel therapeutics against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection.
The grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health will support Plemper’s drug development goals of identifying an anti-RSV drug and at least one distinct alternative compound.
Infections by RSV, a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages, are the leading cause of infant hospitalization from infectious diseases in the United States and result in major human morbidity and mortality globally, particularly among infants, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
There is no vaccine protection available against RSV and antibody therapy used to prevent illness remains reserved for high-risk patients. This has resulted in an unmet clinical need in pediatric patients for readily available and cost-effective RSV therapeutics. It has also created a high clinical need for the development of innovative therapeutic measures to control RSV spread and improve disease management.
“This project will leverage our expertise in molecular virology and antivirals development with the medicinal chemistry capacity and RSV pathogenesis capacity of our collaborators at the Emory Institute for Drug Development and Emory University’s Department of Pediatrics,” Plemper says.
Building on his established antiviral program, he will combine the preclinical development of newly identified lead RSV inhibitors with a diversified pool of inhibitors through an independent drug screening campaign.
Source: Georgia State University
CDC Urges Vigilance: New Recommendations for Monitoring and Testing H5N1 Exposures
July 11th 2025With avian influenza A(H5N1) infections surfacing in both animals and humans, the CDC has issued updated guidance calling for aggressive monitoring and targeted testing to contain the virus and protect public health.
IP LifeLine: Layoffs and the Evolving Job Market Landscape for Infection Preventionists
July 11th 2025Infection preventionists, once hailed as indispensable during the pandemic, now face a sobering reality: budget pressures, hiring freezes, and layoffs are reshaping the field, leaving many IPs worried about their future and questioning their value within health care organizations.
A Helping Hand: Innovative Approaches to Expanding Hand Hygiene Programs in Acute Care Settings
July 9th 2025Who knew candy, UV lights, and a college kid in scrubs could double hand hygiene adherence? A Pennsylvania hospital’s creative shake-up of its infection prevention program shows that sometimes it takes more than soap to get hands clean—and keep them that way.